Merry Christmas, Darling
by DaEldestSalvatore
Summary: It's Christmas at the Bates house and Norman and Norma are going to make the most of it, as they do every year.


Christmastime had come fast this year. It seemed like just yesterday Norman and Norma Bates were taking down their tree and getting ready for the new year.

But now that it had snuck up on them all they could do was prepare in the way that they'd been doing for years now - decorating their house for the season and simply engaging in festive tasks that brought them both joy.

"Norman, it's time!" Norma cried from downstairs, the ornaments and lights all laid out in the living room just waiting to be put on the tree.

Norman smiled to himself immediately, knowing that their Christmas tradition was beginning. Getting out of his bed and running down the stairs like it was Christmas morning instead of the night before, he walked to the living room where his mother stood next to the tree that dwarfed her in one of her robes - this one red to go along with Christmas's colors.

He himself was wearing a green sweater with a red button down that shown only by the collar and meant him and his mother were matching as they usually did.

"Go get the ladder from the basement so we can get this show on the road." She told him with a bright smile, eager to begin.

He wasted no time, just as eager as her, and retrieved the ladder, bringing it back to the living room and setting it up beside the tree.

"Ready?" he asked, glancing at her with an expectant look.

She seemed to think it over before remembering something and making her way to their record player. The moment the sound of White Christmas by Frank Sinatra started to fill the house he truly felt it, the holiday cheer that could only be brought on by nights like this; in their beautiful house, just the two of them surrounded by love and Christmas cheer.

He couldn't imagine Christmas without her.

Norman reached for a box of ornaments and handed them to his mother who was next to him again now and ready to take it. Climbing the ladder he reached his hand down for his mother to hand him an ornament, their usual routine.

"Please don't fall Norman. I know I say that every year but I can't help it." She said with worry in her voice, handing him the ornament box nonetheless.

Her son rolled his eyes but it was not in annoyance at all. "Don't worry mother I do this every year too and I've never fallen. See?" he asked, bouncing on the ladder a little bit, knowing it would alarm her, "Its perfectly safe."

"_Norman!" _she gasped shrilly, hitting his leg lightly to not break his balance more. "Don't ever do that again!"

He was chuckling but he nodded and started placing ornaments on the tree. "I'm sorry Mother, it won't happen again." he told her honestly and when he finished up with the first box and looked back down at her she was trying not to smile.

Due to the fact that this was a normal routine for them - albeit a yearly one - they got done in little to no time and weren't tired at all. In fact, the night was just getting started.

"What do you say we put on Rudolph?" Norma asked, a satisfied smile on her face as she surveyed the great job they'd done, referring to the 1964 movie.

"I'd like that." he smiled back, gazing at her as she gazed at the tree, loving how pleased she looked. "I'll make us some popcorn."

As soon as Norman started to move toward the kitchen Norma made a of noise of protest. "On second thought, let's bake an apple pie and _then_ we can watch Rudolph."

Cooking or baking anything with his mother was something they both enjoyed and that he tried to do every chance he got, so the fact that she was suggesting it now, in the season that they loved so much, filled his heart with joy.

"That's an even better idea." he told her with a wide grin and sprinted to the kitchen to take out the ingredients and other things they'd need.

"Someone's excited." Norma said with a knowing grin of her own as she came into the kitchen after him.

"Of course I am mother, you know how much I love baking with you." he told her, the contentment he felt at doing really anything with her evident in his voice.

Her grin turned into a softer, more affectionate smile and she directed it all at him. "I know honey, I know."

And with that they started baking, now clothed in matching aprons to really set the scene.

The pie turned out amazing and Norman had fun eating some of the filling when his mother wasn't watching.

When they were cool they cuddled together on the sofa, pieces of pie in hand and milk close by as Rudolph played at a nice calming volume on their TV.

The two of them fell asleep just like that, happy, full, and content in each others arms, and when the morning came they'd almost forgotten about the occasion.

But when Norman - who woke first - turned his head and saw that snow was steadily falling outside of their window and saw the beautiful tree they'd set up the night before it all came back.

"Mother wake up its Christmas!" he all but yelled, lightly shaking his mother as if he was a little kid again.

She woke slowly but when she saw the excited look on his face and the evidence that it was indeed Christmas, a warm smile lined her lips and she nodded along with his words. "Yes, it is isn't it?" she said softly, her arms going around him to pull him back into her before they got up and did all of their Christmas day traditions.

Norman leaned into her and they stayed that way for a long moment, both not wanting to move away from each other. "We get a white Christmas this year mother, just how we like." he was elated and she nodded her agreement. This Christmas couldn't have started any better.

"Go on up and get ready, I'll start on breakfast." She eventually said, pulling back to give him a loving kiss on his cheek.

Reluctantly he pulled away from her and ran upstairs. Excited to brush his teeth? No, he simply hated being apart from his mother for too long, in fear that she might slip away.

But no, when he descended the stairs and entered the kitchen - their record player playing I'll Be Home For Christmas by She Him now; she was still there, cooking him the pancakes and eggs that he loved so much, and especially on days that started as beautifully as this one.

"Oh, that was quick." She startled a little, chuckling at the sight of her son in the doorway looking so happy to be back in her presence. "The food is almost done. Why don't you set the table?"

He didn't ask to be told twice and got to work, grabbing two of everything - plates, cups, forks and knives - setting them on the table with care so it looked as if someone had done it professionally.

When his mother saw this, she gasped and looked at her thoughtful and detail oriented boy, a wide and impressed smile on her face. "Oh Norman you know you didn't have to do all of that right? We're having breakfast not a feast with the kingdom." She joked, but inside she really was so proud of him.

"I know mother, I know, but you know how special Christmas is for us." he said with a smile of his own, gently taking her hands in his and loosely dancing to the beat of the song. "I couldn't help but do a little more than usual."

She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she swayed with him, rolling her eyes in that knowing way of hers. "I suppose I should start expecting those moments hmm? You're always doing more than usual when it comes to me... To us."

He nodded and pulled her closer, the dance a real one now that was less playful and more intimate. "I can't help it. I just... I love you so much and I want you to always have the best." he said, his voice quieter now.

Norma rested her head on his chest, feeling his heart beat that might as well have been her own. "You do the best job at that, do you know that? Everything you do for me is the best. No one's ever..." She tried to keep the tears that were welling in her eyes of out her voice. "gone above and beyond for me like you have."

Those words warmed Norman's whole heart and his love for his mother grew ten fold as it often did in moments like this. He was content with spending the rest of the day like this - swaying with her to Christmas records; Merry Christmas, Darling by The Carpenters was playing now.

"Norman I hate to break this moment, but your food is gonna get cold." She whispered, still against him.

He sighed and nodded, still not moving and had a thought.

Before she could protest he pulled away from the hug though still holding one of her hands and pulling her to the doorway where a mistletoe hung. This was always the first thing they put up and he was surely glad for it now as he pulled his mother under, a small smile on his face.

Norma had half a thought to tell him about the food again, but the spell of being under the miseltoe with him, with this man that she loved so much, kept her from doing so.

For a few moments they stood there, Norman and Norma, looking into each other's eyes and feelings an array of emotions passing back and forth between them.

Norman was the first to break the silence and he did so by pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, his eyes never leaving as her whispered. "I love you, mother."

The intimate weight of the words he said and the intense emotion behind it made her bite her lip, the lump from before settling back in her throat. "I love you too honey."

And with that he kissed his mother on the forehead, a soft and subtle kiss that conveyed all of the things he didn't say but they already knew inside as they did most things.

No matter the fact that the reality of things was so much more grim, quiet and dark; what with Norman alone in the big house that had once been theirs, his mother's corpse in his arms as he whispered those words -

no that didn't matter at all, it was a merry Christmas indeed.


End file.
